1 Raja-raja 17:1-16

Elijah Visits a Widow in Sidonian Territory

17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), ¹  there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” ²  17:2 The Lord told him: ³  17:3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told ⁴  the ravens to bring you food ⁵  there.” 17:5 So he did ⁶  as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

17:7 After a while, ⁷  the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 17:8 The Lord told him, ⁸  17:9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told ⁹  a widow who lives there to provide for you.” 17:10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup ¹⁰  of water, so I can take a drink.” 17:11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” ¹¹  17:12 She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.” ¹²  17:13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. ¹³  But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 17:14 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 17:15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. ¹⁴  17:16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the Lord had promised ¹⁵  through Elijah.

[17:1]  ¹ tn Heb “before whom I stand.”

[17:1]  ² tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”

[17:2]  ³ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to him, saying.”

[17:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “commanded.”

[17:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to provide for you.”

[17:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “So he went and did.”

[17:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “And it came about at the end of days.”

[17:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying.”

[17:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, I have commanded.”

[17:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a little.”

[17:11]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “in your hand.”

[17:12]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, I am gathering two sticks and then I will go and make it for me and my son and we will eat it and we will die.”

[17:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[17:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and she ate, she and he and her house [for] days.”

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “out, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.”